


When You've Only Got 100 Years To Live

by EldunariLiduen



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-20
Updated: 2012-12-20
Packaged: 2017-11-21 16:34:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/599840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EldunariLiduen/pseuds/EldunariLiduen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A five-part story that will follow Rose Tyler and TenTwo/MetaCrisis Doctor/whatever you want to call him as they become engaged, plan their wedding, become married, have their wedding reception, and become parents.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Proposal

_Come on, Doctor. It’s not that hard._

_Yes it is._

_Scared?_

_Apparently enough to have an argument with myself inside my head, yes._

The Doctor lifts his head and looks at himself in the mirror, his hands gripping either side of the porcelain sink in the bathroom at Rose’s favorite restaurant. His hair sticks up wildly. He’d attempted to comb it down for the evening, but it never cooperated.

“Doctor, are you in here?” a voice asks as the bathroom door opens.

“Yeah. Hello Pete.”

“Rose was looking lonely out there,” Pete says. “You alright?”

“Sort of. Nervous, actually.”

“I’d be surprised if you weren’t. But you don’t really have reason to be, you know.”

The Doctor looks at Pete in the mirror. “How d’you mean?”

“What makes you think she’ll say no?”

He opens his mouth to reply, but nothing comes out.

“That’s what I thought,” Pete says and moves to stand beside the Doctor. “Now, I haven’t known you very long, but I’ve known you long enough that Rose loves you. She’s not going to say no.

Truth was, he was worried that she wouldn’t accept that he was the Doctor she had travelled with. Yes, he knew he was the Doctor and everyone else knew… But… Blimey, this wasn’t helping.

“Come on, she’s going to start wondering where you’ve gone off to.”

The Doctor shuts his eyes and places a hand over his single heart, feeling it beat. _One-two. One-two._ A single, human, heartbeat. A _human_ heart beat. Just like Rose. Opening his eyes, he stands up straight, and rolls his head to crack his neck. A deep breath.

“Allons-y.”

“There you are!” Rose says as she spots the Doctor walking back towards their table. “Food just got here.”

The Doctor takes his seat across from Rose in the middle of the posh restaurant. He smiles at her, radiant in her peach floor-length dress, her blonde hair swept up into a bun. Pink and yellow. Glancing just off to his right, he spots Jackie, Rose’s mum, sitting at her own table as Pete rejoins her. She stares him down in a ‘you-mess-this-up-I’ll-make-your-head-spin’ fashion.

Rose follows his gaze and groans. “Blimey, they couldn’t give us one night? Oh, well. That’s my mum for you,” she laughs, picking up her fork to eat.

The Doctor fingers the small, velvety box in his pocket. All it took was a few words. But he had to time it right. And soon. Before he balked…again.

“You alright, Doctor?” Rose asks, noticing a faraway look in his eyes and the fact that he hasn’t touched his food.

“Hm?” His attention snaps back to their table. “Yeah, I’m- I’m fine. Fantastic. Molto bene,” he says quickly.

Rose arches an eyebrow at him. “You sure?”

“Mm-hm,” he nods quickly. “No, actually. Sorry. I-I don’t know. Erm…”

“Did Mum’s cooking get to you again?” Rose teases him, smiling her brilliant white smile.

“No, that’s not it,” he says, standing suddenly.

“Doctor?” Rose asks, wiping a bit of sauce off her cheek with one of the restaurant’s cloth napkins.

The Doctor closes his eyes for a moment once more, taking a deep breath and reaching into his pocket. He bends down to one knee, as he draws the box out.

“Rose Tyler,” the Doctor begins and then pauses. He laughs shakily. “You know I had it all figured out what I wanted to say and now it’s just gone!  Rose, you made me so much better. You were there for me, even when we were literally separated by a universe. You came back. I want to say this for the rest of my life. Rose Tyler- I love you. Would you- Would you do me the great honor of being…my wife?”

She simply sits, stunned into silence for a moment. But only for a moment.

“Yes!” she squeals, jumping at the Doctor to hug him.

“Blimey!” he laughs as she knocks him over onto the red carpet of the restaurant. They share a kiss and another hug, grinning at each other as he slips the engagement ring onto her finger.

The people in the restaurant applaud, some shouting their congratulations. The Doctor stands, and goes to help Rose to her feet, but instead picks her up into a feet-off-the-floor hug, still grinning and laughing.

“Took you long enough, you big idiot,” Rose whispers in his ear before they kiss once more, riding high on their pure love and joy.


	2. The Plans

“Rose,” the Doctor says, knocking on the door to her room in Pete’s mansion. “How’s the guest list coming?”

No response.

“Rose…?” he says, slowly opening the door. Looking around her spacious bedroom, he spots Rose sitting in one of her window seats, staring out at the rain but not quite seeing it, with a few sheets of paper on her lap. She doesn’t even stir as the Doctor enters the room and crosses over to her. “Rose,” the Doctor says softly, touching her on the shoulder.

Rose jumps slightly, snapping her head around to see who had touched her. “Oh. Hi. Sorry, I was just….thinking.”

“Thinking about what?” he asks, seating himself across from her on the cushioned window seat.

“Nothing,” Rose says, trying to shrug off the question with a half-hearted smile. But her eyes betray her, a moist film of unshed tears forming as she glances back to the rain.

“It’s a bit difficult to think of absolutely nothing,” the Doctor says, swinging himself around so he’s seated between Rose and the rain-plastered window. “I know. I’ve tried. What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” she says, her lips twitching in the way everyone’s do when they’re trying not to cry in front of someone. Closing her eyes, a single tear rolls down her cheek, its trail marked with a few small flakes of mascara. She buries her head into the Doctor’s shoulder, still trying to hold herself together.

Looking over the papers in her lap, he sees a list of people they know and the friends they’ve made- many of them from this universe’s Torchwood. But the last name on the list… _Mickey Smith_. _Oh, Rose…_ he thinks, putting an arm around her shoulder and kissing the top of her head.

“I know it’s been forever, but…” Rose tries to explain, her voice muffled by the Doctor’s Superman t-shirt. She turns her head, still resting it on his shoulder, to look up at him.

“It still hurts. I know.”

The two sit in silence for a few moments, simply listening to the patter of the rain. It’d been about a year since that second day at Bad Wolf Bay. A year since the Doctor had entrusted his Human-Time Lord metacrisis self to Rose. A year since the Doctor had watched his ship- for it was rightly his as well, no matter his biology- fade away into a parallel universe. A year since the two had stood on the sands of Bad Wolf Bay and held hands, an entire life together before them. What a gift that had been.

“You know,” Rose says with a shadow of a laugh. “I nearly put Jack’s name down.”

“Now _that_ would have been a party,” the Doctor laughs.

“Yeah, it would have,” Rose says with a smile.

Neither would admit it, but both were glad for the change in subject. Both had lost so much that it made it difficult to look too far back.

Rose had lost her universe- friends, people she knew, even some of her frame of reference. Yes this was a parallel world, but she could see someone she knew from her universe, and they wouldn’t have a clue who she was.

The Doctor had lost his planet, his home, and so many people in his lives.

It wasn’t a subject either of them tried to dwell too long on.

“So, how’d dress shopping with your Mum go?”

“Brilliantly, actually,” Rose says, sitting up a bit and taking her head off his shoulder. “Found the _perfect_ dress.”

“Really? Do I get a peak?”

“Mmm…nope,” Rose says with a kiss on the Doctor’s cheek. “You’ll just have to wait and see,” she smiles, teasing him.

“Oh, fair enough. I’m not promising the perfect tux, though. Don’t come in very many varieties,” he chuckles.

“No bowtie, though?”

“No bowtie,” the Doctor says with another laugh, remembering what happened last time he wore a tux around Rose. “No Cybermen will crash this wedding. Y’know… _hopefully_.”

“Oh, they better not mister,” Rose tells him, eyebrows raised in a teasing manner. “I don’t want to have to help save the universe on my wedding day, thank _you_.”

“I’ll try my best, miss,” the Doctor says, saluting her. “Besides, I think about half of Torchwood’ll be there anyways.”

“At ease, sir,” Rose laughs. “Oh! I almost forgot. Mum wanted you to help us with flowers.”

“Oh, I don’t think that’ll be too difficult, _Rose,_ ” the Doctor says with a wink.

“Oi, shut up you,” Rose says, playfully hitting him on the arm as she stands up from the window seat. “C’mon. It’s time for dinner. Mum’s _not_ cooking tonight so it _should_ be safe. Hopefully.”

“I’ll be down in a mo. You go on ahead.”

“See ya down there,” she says, planting another kiss on his cheek.

As soon as the door closes behind Rose, the Doctor lets out a sigh. _Marriage_ , he thinks. It’s not a new concept to him by any means, but it’s still a big step. _A huge step, really._ He rubs the side of his face, looking at his reflection in the window as the rain falls.

_Blimey_.


	3. The Wedding

“Breathe, you _idiot_ ,” a voice hisses in the Doctor’s ear accompanied by a whack on his arm by none other than the mother of the bride, Jackie Tyler

“Right, sorry,” he mumbles as the small bridal party files down the cobble-stone paved garden path in pairs while the song _Pure Imagination_ plays over the speakers hidden in the bushes. The bridesmaids wear thigh-length, deep blue dresses- the bluest blue, in fact- with a spattering of sequins across the chest and down the side of the skirt. The groomsmen wear simple tuxes- the ties matching the color of the dresses.

The entire area smells of the bride’s namesake flower. Roses of all colors grow in the garden while the bridesmaids carry ones dyed a slightly lighter shade of blue in their bouquets. The gazebo the Doctor, Jackie, and the presiding official stand in has been woven with countless white roses, their perfume sweet in the mid-afternoon summer air.

Just down the path, a small boy of about three is gently pushed out from behind the rose bush that had hidden the bridal party from sight.

“Come on, Tony!” Jackie hisses as the blonde-haired boy in a miniature tux gawks, bewildered at the people in their Sunday best all staring at him.

“Mummy!” he yells, running down the path to get to her. “Mummy lookit what I have!” he says proudly, showing her the pillow the rings rest on.

“Very lovely, sweetheart,” Jackie smiles, glad she had had the forethought to tie the rings down. “Go on sit right over there and wait for your sister.”

“Ok mummy! She looks really pretty today!”

The small crowd chuckles as they stand, the opening strains of _The Bridal March_ echo through the garden.

_Deep breath, Doctor_ , he thinks, his single heart pounding in his chest as he waits for his first look of the bride on their wedding day.

The garden itself seems to gasp as the lady of honor steps into view on the arm of her adopted father. Her floor-length white gown, the skirt embroidered with delicate roses with a tasteful amount of small, off-white beads incorporated in the design, glows in the sunlight. A small, rose shaped, diamond hair pin holds her hair back in a swept up bun. Behind her trails a small, modest train. In her hands is a bouquet of white and velvet-red roses. Her thin, white, tulle veil covers her face but does nothing to hide the beaming smile she smiles just for him- her Doctor.

The Doctor’s eyebrows shoot upward at the sight and he mouths a ‘Wow,’ as Rose walks slowly down the path.

“Told you it was perfect,” she whispers in his ear, joining him on the steps to the gazebo after this universe’s Pete Tyler takes his seat, Jackie soon joining him.

“You weren’t lying,” he says, grinning from ear to ear.

“Family, friends, we are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Rose Marion Tyler to the Doctor- who for legal reasons we’ll call John Smith,” the presiding officer- one of their friends from Torchwood says with a smile.

The crowd laughs at his small joke, all of them familiar with the Doctor and at least part of his story.

“Thanks for at least not doing the ‘Doctor _who_?’ bit, Matt” the Doctor says, laughing along.

“Anyways,” Matt says, “this won’t be a traditional marriage as some of you might be familiar with. By request of both the bride and groom, they will be married in the fashion of the groom’s home world- Gallifrey with a bit of Earth thrown in.  Pete? Jackie?”

The mother and adopted father of the bride stand, Jackie holding a piece of TARDIS blue cloth in her hands. Matt takes it from her and holds it between Rose and the Doctor.

“Do you, Jackie Tyler, the mother of the bride consent and gladly give your daughter Rose Marion Tyler in marriage to the Doctor, also known as John Smith?”

“I consent and gladly give my daughter in this marriage,” she says, giving her daughter a smile.

“Do you, Pete Tyler, the father of the bride consent and gladly give your daughter Rose Marion Tyler in marriage to the Doctor, also known as John Smith?”

“I consent and gladly give my daughter in this marriage.”

“Thank you,” Matt says with a nod. “You may take your seats. As there are none present to speak for the Doctor, I will ask you. Doctor, do you enter this marriage gladly?”

“Oh, you bet I do,” he smiles, never once taking his eyes of Rose, brilliant in her bridal beauty.

“You know this bit better than I do,” Matt says as he hands the blue cloth- just about a foot long- to the Doctor. Taking the cloth, the Doctor begins to wrap Rose’s left hand as her mother holds the bouquet.

“This cloth represents our union through time and space- always twisting and turning but always bringing us back together,” he says as he wraps her hand. “Now and forever, ‘til our lives run out, do I take you as my wife, Rose Marion Tyler. No matter where the universe takes us, no matter the hurdles in our way, no matter how far apart we may be in time or space, I promise to be yours forever and always.”

Taking the other end of the cloth and wrapping it around his hand, Rose recites “This cloth represents our union through time and space- always twisting and turning but always bringing us back together. Now and forever, ‘til our lives run out, do I take you as my husband, Doctor. No matter where the universe takes us, no matter the hurdles in our way, no matter how far apart we may be in time or space, I promise to be yours forever and always.”

“Now for the Earth bit,” Matt says, motioning for the rings.

“Here you go, Matty!” Tony says, offering him the rings with the pillow upside down, earning himself another chuckle from the crowd.

“Thank you, Tony. Now, I’m told the couple has written their own vows for this portion?”

“We have,” the Doctor says, taking Rose’s ring in his free hand. “Rose, I’m not going to say that ever since I saw you in that hallway in the department store that I always loved you. I was a bit of a different man back then, though,” he chuckles. “But as we travelled through time and space together… I grew to see you as one of the most kind-hearted people in the Galaxy. I never thought in a million eons that I’d get the chance to live a life with you. Just one life. And I promise to spend it with you, Rose Tyler. I love you.”

Rose blinks away the tears that come to her eyes at his speech as he slips the diamond ring on her finger. She’d known what the Gallifreyan vows would be, but the Doctor had refused to even hint at what he would be saying for their Earth vows.

“Thanks,” she says as Matt hands her the Doctor’s ring. “Doctor, you showed me the universe and all of time and space. How did you expect me to not fall for you?” she laughs “During those adventures, you always took care of me and I always tried to help you. On that day- the worst day of my life- I cried not only because my life had been so completely changed by you and I thought I’d never see you again, but because I didn’t know who’d take care of _you_ ,” she says, a small smile on her face as she blinks back more tears. “Doctor… my Doctor. I just want to be with you forever. I promised you that long ago and I promise it again. I love you, too.” With those words, she places the golden band around his finger.

“It is my honor and pleasure to pronounce you man and wife,” Matt says with a smile. “You may kiss the bride.”

Their friends and family cheer for the newlyweds as they kiss. The Doctor pulls away for just a moment, and whispers something in Rose’s ear. Looking at him in wonder, Rose smiles her brilliant smile and then pulls him in for another kiss.

_Married. At last._


	4. The Reception

_I’m twenty-two for a moment_  
And she feels better than ever before  
And we’re on fire  
Making our way back from Mars

 _Fifteen there’s still time for you_  
Time to find and time to lose   
Fifteen  
There’s never a wish better than this  
When you’ve only got a hundred years to live

Their song- the one they agreed on within a moment that was perfect on so many levels- plays over the sound system set up in the ballroom in the Tyler mansion. They move in time to the music, nothing fancy, just simply enjoying holding each other in the knowledge that they’ll be together as long as forever lasts. Rose looks up and smiles at the Doctor, pure joy radiating from them both. Of all the people living on all the planets in all the galaxies in all the possible universes at any point in time, there is no one else that either of them would want to share this moment with.

The ending chords of the song ring out through the hall as the newlyweds go in for another kiss to the applause of their gathered friends and family. The DJ starts the next song- _I’m Gonna Be-_ and the guests flood the dance floor to the tune of the Scottish band and promises of doing anything to be there for each other.

Rose takes a deep breath of cool, fresh air as she steps out into the garden adjacent to the ballroom. Tea lights are scattered through the garden, giving it a sort of fairy tale feel as she strolls down the stone path, raising her white dress to just above her ankles to avoid getting dirt on it. She sighs with relief as she sits herself on a wooden bench by one of the bubbling stone fountains.

Behind her, the music swells in volume as someone opens the door out to the garden. _Summer Nights_. Rose chuckles to herself, remembering the Doctor’s jacket the first time she met him. _Very T-Bird_ , she thinks to herself.

“Rose? You out here?” the Doctor’s voice calls as he wanders the garden paths looking for her.

“By the stone fountain!” she calls to him, taking her left shoe off and rubbing her sore foot.

“There you are!” he says with a smile, spotting his new wife as he rounds the corner. “Wondering where you’d gone off to. Leaving me to fend with your mother looking for a dance with _me_ of all things.”

“She’s had a few, hasn’t she?” Rose says with a laugh, rolling her eyes.

“Are you saying that your mother would only dance with me if she’s been _drinking_?” the Doctor says in mock offense.

“Well….” Rose teases him with a smile.

“Fair enough point, I suppose,” he chuckles, sitting himself down next to Rose though not before giving the stone statue on top of the fountain a wary glance.

Resting her head on the Doctor’s shoulder, Rose says, “It just feels so…surreal. You know?”

“Yeah,” the Doctor replies simply, his hand touching his chest to feel his single heartbeat almost without thinking. He kisses the top of her head.

“How’s the TARDIS doing?”

“Shall we take a look?”

“Yeah, just give me a mo,” Rose says, bending down to undo her other shoe. “I should have gone with lower heels,” she groans, getting to her feet and holding her shoes in one hand.

Hand in hand, the couple walks to the center of the garden where for the past year and a half a piece of TARDIS coral has been growing per the instructions of one Doctor-Donna Noble.

“Wow, look at her,” Rose says with a grin as the blue police box comes into view. “There were still a few gaps in her last time I looked. She let you in yet?” she asks, turning to look at the Doctor.

He lets go of Rose’s hand for a moment to dig in his inside jacket for the TARDIS key. As he takes it out, his face is bathed in a golden glow from the key. Grinning at Rose, the Doctor runs the last few steps over to the TARDIS and she’s not far behind him. With a deep breath, he inserts the glowing key into the lock.

 _Click_.

The doors creak open just a crack. Grinning at each other, the Doctor and Rose push them open the rest of the way and step inside.

“Just the same as before!” the Doctor says, veritably dancing up the small ramp to the console in his joy.

“Donna sure knew what she was talking about,” Rose says, impressed as she walks over to join the Doctor.

“Yeah,” he says, looking away from her for a moment, his face falling just for a moment. Best not go into what he knew had to have happened. What he had felt happen, really. He knew that there had been no other way but… Tonight wasn’t the night to tell her.

“Best wedding present by far,” she smiles, patting the console and looking up at the Time Rotor center piece. “Thank you.”

“So, Rose Tyler-Smith,” the Doctor says, regaining his grin as he saunters around the console, “where do you propose we go? Forwards or backwards in time? Another planet?”

“Best get back to the reception, right?”

“I…Do we have to?” he asks, a tad disappointed, though he knows she’s right.

“Pretty sure Mum would kill me if we just went off without warning again,” she chuckles as he makes puppy dog eyes at her. “Besides, you still owe her that dance. And the TARDIS’ll still be here in the morning.”

“I suppose so…”

“Come on you,” Rose says, taking his hand and leading him off. “We’ll have adventures through time and space in the morning. I promise.”


	5. The Parents

He hated waiting. That was something that hadn’t really ever changed. Patience was not the Doctor’s strong suit. At all.

Glancing up at the clock on the white washed walls of the maternity ward waiting room, the Doctor taps his foot nervously. How long did this take, exactly? They’d already waited for nine months. Nine _long_ months in which both Jackie and Rose had insisted that they stay put after only a few weeks of having the TARDIS back.

Every time a door creaks open, the Doctor stands immediately, hoping that it was news for him… and Pete as well seeing as he was the father of the soon-to-be mother. The Doctor, Pete, and Tony had all been forcibly ejected from Rose’s hospital room by the doctors and nurses who were in charge. No amount of protesting that he was a doctor as well had convinced them to let him in and he was forced to wait.

“What’s taking so long?” the Doctor says exasperatedly, standing up to pace the length of the waiting room for at least the tenth time since they’d been shown in.

“Doctor,” Tony says in his young, innocent voice, “we’ve only been waiting for fifteen minutes.”

With a sigh, the Doctor sinks back into one of the barely-cushioned chairs. _You know you’re impatient when a three-year-old has a better concept of time than you do_ , he thinks to himself. Burying his head in his hands, the Doctor stares down at the white-tiled floor and resigns himself to listen to the sounds of the ticking clock and Tony playing with his wooden Thomas the Tank Engine model for a while.

What seemed like hours later but was in reality only a half hour later, the door creaks open once again.

“John Tyler-Smith?” the voice of one of the nurses comes from the doorway.

“Yes?” he says, standing immediately. “What? What is it? Is she alright? What happened?”

The nurse smiles. “She’s here.”

The Doctor’s face lights up as a large grin spreads across his face. Rushing up to the nurse and taking a quick glance at his name tag, he kisses the top of his head before running off. “Thanks Rory!” he yells over his shoulder, his red converse squeaking as he runs down the halls to Rose’s room.

Shaking his head, Rory walks calmly after the Doctor, somewhat used to the varying reactions from those he met at the hospital. Behind him, Pete carries Tony in his arms, though walking at a slightly faster pace than the nurse but not as fast as the Doctor.

Standing at the door to Rose’s hospital room, the Doctor slowly moves his hand to the door handle. Taking a few deep breaths and touching his chest to feel his singular heartbeat, he slowly turns the handle and opens the door.

“You just going to stand there or what?” Rose says, smiling at him tiredly from her bed, her blonde hair pulled back into a frizzy pony tail. In her arms lies a small, swaddled bundle.

Walking calmly to her bedside, the Doctor crouches down beside her bed and takes his first look at his brand new _human_ baby daughter. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he reaches out to touch her small hand in wonder. Feeling his contact, she stirs and opens her eyes. He laughs, smiling from ear to ear and hardly believing what he’s seeing.

“Hello there,” he says in a low voice, still stroking her hand. Such small fingers…

“D’you want to hold her?” Rose asks, shifting and sitting up slightly more.

Hesitating briefly in this uncharted territory of human babies, the Doctor takes his brand new daughter into his arms. She fits like a puzzle piece in his arms…the perfect addition to their small but growing family. Apparently perfectly content, she falls back to sleep in the Doctor’s arms.

Blinking back the tears forming in his eyes he whispers, “Hello Donna.”

Though more tired that she’d been in her entire life, Rose couldn’t help but smile and blink back her own tears. Even if at one point she thought that she would stay traveling with the Doctor forever, this had been the one thing she had never seen happening…one thing she had never even thought about.

But here they were. A family. The Doctor, her, and little Donna named for the woman who had helped give them this life together. And though the Doctor still had yet to tell Rose what would have happened to the Doctor-Donna- not that he saw a reason to anytime soon- they had immediately agreed on the name.

Donna Tyler-Smith the card read on the end of her cot.

“You’re going to be _amazing_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there AO3! Glad to finally be here. This is an older work of mine and is already published on ff.net, but I wanted to post this here. During break I'm hoping to work on a full-length fic for TenToo and Rose starting from Bad Wolf Bay and bringing them up to this point. I'm looking forward to hearing from anyone who reads my works!


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